memorial day weekend

'Twas a full weekend. We kicked off Friday with our last formal small group gathering at Nate & Esther's + homemade ice cream. We will have a final picnic thing sometime this summer. The small group has been good, and I've enjoyed getting to know these people better. After, Brian and I (probably) overstayed our welcome and chatted with Nate & Esther until after midnight.

Saturday was a wonderful day for sleeping in. We went to mom & dad's for lunch with them, my grandma, an uncle from Alaska, and my mom's cousin. Lunch was delightful. Brian headed to Moundridge after lunch, but I stayed to visit and play a couple of games of Zilch. Late afternoon I went home and was lazily watching Rent until Brian called to invite me to supper with his parents. I drove to Moundridge and we headed to McPherson for supper, where I had just enough of a pitcher of margaritas. We watched part of some video series about life on earth for our after dinner entertainment.

Sunday was another wonderful day for sleeping in! Church was skipped and tomato plants were planted. Then we packed and made hobo dinners for our weekend camp out. At 2pm we met most of the group at Ruth & Jesse's to caravan out to Ruth's family's property in the flint hills. Once there, we played croquet and then trekked to the other property nearby that they own that has the cabin and lake so people could swim. Brian and I were not prepared with swim attire (though we probably would have skipped out on that anyway), but we did take out the paddle boat for a spin around the lake; it was much more enjoyable than our paddle boating on the Ark during River Fest last year (miserable). We all went back to where we were staying and got the dinners started. I absolutely love hobo dinners and had not had one in a very long time. Yum! A bunch of us went on a walk to the crick, and we spent some time skipping rocks. Later there were s'mores and chatting around the fire until bedtime. Not being people who like to go to the hassle of a tent if we don't have to, Brian and I stayed inside the farmhouse. There was a also a family of five in another room and a grandma and one-year-old in one room. Something sure upset this little guy in the night, so I wouldn't describe my night as particularly restful. Related, kids must just get up early. Our group was made up of eight couples, six of which have young kids (2-3 per family). So sometime early in the morning, the air was filled with the screams of youngins. Ah well. Loss of sleep is a minor disappointment compared to the fun of the weekend! We ate some breakfast and then went back to the lake. We and Ruth & Jesse took a walk through the absolutely beautiful flint hills. It was great. What an amazing piece of property to own. After a bit more hanging out at the lake and then cleaning up at the farm property, we headed for home. I think I slept most of the way. We did some tree trimming in the front yard and then went to Moundridge so Brian could continue working on the cabinet he is building. It's looking really good and will be beautiful when it is done, I believe. I finished a book that I started back in February (my free reading time has been greatly lacking until now) and continued work on another I started probably in December and also took another nap. After supper we watched a Mystery Science Theater, which are so great and I had not seen one in a long time. I think I slept again on the way home and was indeed ready for bed once there. Ah, for a three-day weekend. I am, of course, already ready for a weekend today.